Joel M Bradshaw

 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…14“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.–John 10

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:31-34)

1. A divisive subject in Christian theology is the answer to this question: For whom did Jesus die?
2. The Matthew 25 passage separates sheep from goats. The sheep are with Jesus and the goats are not.
3. This implies that the goats are not saved and therefore Jesus has not died to pay the price of their sins.
4. John 10 reminds us that Jesus died for His sheep and nobody else.
5. So the question gets refined: Who are the sheep that are saved?
6. The sheep know Jesus and follow Him exclusively and are known by Him..
7. This implies that there are others who do not know or follow Jesus and are not known by Jesus in the same way.
8. To become a sheep in the Shepherd’s pen, are the sheep ultimately choosing or is the Shepherd?
9. This is really the big tension. If it’s the sheep’s choice, then Jesus died for everyone and only some choose to be sheep rather than goats.
10. If it is the Shepherd’s choice, then you can definitely say that He died only for the sheep and not for the goats. In theological terms, Jesus died only for the elect. Or only the elect received what Jesus’ death provided.

Your story has one of two lines:

1. Jesus died for all sinners, but I am glad I made the right choice to become a sheep.
2. Jesus chose to know me and welcome me into His fold. He specifically died for me.–JMB